Questions on Shiva DeNechemta to think about and discuss:

1. What does it mean to comfort and why the need for seven weeks to do so?
2. What is the significance of having comfort for forty-nine days?

Ideas for answers on Shiva DeNechemta:

1. There are three levels of comfort. The first level is what we know as Nichum Aveilim, comforting mourners. The relative is feeling so low that he cannot see an end in sight. The mitzva of comforting here is to show him that there is a way to continue living even though you cannot bring back the dead. The second type of comfort is when one loses something very precious. When it is returned to him, like a lost diamond, the person is comforted. However, he still is left with the shock experience. The third and highest level of comfort is when you lose something and then get it back and realise why you had to go through losing it for a good reason. The seven weeks of comfort describe how the Jews goes through these three different levels of comfort until they understand everything. This is reflected in these seven different haftoras the to and fro between the Neviyim, prophets, delivering the messages from Hashem and the responses from the Jewish Nation.
2. Perhaps the idea here is the same as the seven weeks of Sefiras Haomer. There the seven weeks are to prepare for Shavuos while here the seven weeks climax in Rosh Hashana. …